Andhra Chicken Fry | Kodi Vepudu
Andhra Chicken fry or Kodi Vepudu is an authentic South Indian way of making stir-fried chicken with a delicious spice coat. It is a super comforting meal and is perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb Chicken thighs with bones is preferred but boneless is also good
- 2 tablespoon oil or ghee Use ghee for more authentic taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 or 2 green chilies slit lengthwise Indian or Thai chilies or Serrano chilies
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 10 to 15 cashews broken into half
- 1 big onion diced small makes around 2 cups
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder adjust as per your taste
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder skip or adjust as per your taste
- ½ teaspoon garam masala optional
- Cilantro for garnish
Ingredients for Marination
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 4 tablespoon coconut powder or freshly grated coconut
Ingredients for tempering at the end
- 1 teaspoon oil or ghee
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 2 green chilies slit lengthwise
Instructions
Preparation
- Clean the chicken and cut it into pieces. If you choose chicken with bones ( which is the best for this recipe) then cut into medium size pieces, or if you choose boneless chicken then cut into small cube sized pieces.
- Add all the marination ingredients to the cut chicken and coat it evenly. Cover it and marinate for half an hour in the refrigerator.
- Dice a big onion ( red onion preferably ) into small pieces.
How to make Andhra Chicken fry
- Heat a stir fry pan with oil or ghee or a mix of both half and half. When the oil is hot add cumin seeds, slit green chili, curry leaves, broken cashew pieces and saute for a minute.
- Then add diced onions along with a little salt to help onions cook faster. Saute until onions are starting to turn into golden color.
- Add coriander powder, red chili powder, and saute for a few seconds.
- Now add the chicken pieces, mix well to coat with onion masala, and cover and cook until the chicken is 75% cooked while stirring every couple minutes. DO NOT add any water, let the chicken cook in its own juices and steam.
- Then open the lid, add gram masala, more red chili powder if you are using, mix well and continue to cook until all the extra moisture is evaporated and chicken pieces are coated with a thick spice mixture. Make sure NOT TO overcook as the chicken pieces will get all fibrous and will not taste good.
- Check the taste and add any spices or salt if needed and garnish with cilantro before turning off the heat. Take it into a serving dish.
- Final IMPORTANT STEP: In a small tempering pan, heat 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil and add a sprig of curry leaves and slit green chilies and saute until crispy fried. Now add this mixture along with the oil or ghee on top of the chicken fry in the serving dish. This tempering gives an awesome spicy and yummy kick to this chicken fry ( Kodi Vepudu) and takes it to the next level.
- Serve hot with rice and rasam on the side ( South Indian tomato soup) along with fryums for an out-of-the-world comforting meal.
Notes
- Clean, Cut and Marinate the chicken as the first step to save time, Then if you don't have 30 mins to marinate, you can cut the marination time and add the chicken once the onions are sauteed.
- Please check the TIPS section above the recipe card for important tips.
- Adjust the spices according to your spice tolerance.